scholarly journals Influence of Litter Size at Birth on Productive Parameters in Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus)

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2059
Author(s):  
Angela Edith Guerrero Pincay ◽  
Raúl Lorenzo González Marcillo ◽  
Walter Efraín Castro Guamàn ◽  
Nelson Rene Ortiz Naveda ◽  
Deyvis Angel Grefa Reascos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Cavia Porcellus ◽  
Mixed Feeding ◽  
Balanced Diet ◽  
Pig Meat ◽  
Size At Birth

A study was conducted at the Escuela Superior Politècnica de Chimborazo, Ecuador, to evaluate the influence of litter size of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) on their development and to establish the economic profitability of the production system. Forty-eight animals were used, distributed into litters of two, three, and four rodents per litter, with a balanced diet and green fresh alfalfa for the weaning, growth, and fattening stage, the rodents and litters were randomly selected, applying the statistical model completely randomly and evaluating different variables across 120 days. The litters of three guinea pigs obtained the best productive responses and economic profitability. With respect to sex, the males presented better productive behavior, greater economic increase, and less cost, evidencing that mixed feeding influences the number of guinea pigs per birth in terms of growth and development. The results serve to improve guinea pig meat production for the rural population.

scholarly journals Family Outbreaks of Nontyphoidal Salmonellosis following a Meal of Guinea Pigs

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
John B. Fournier ◽  
Kimberly Knox ◽  
Maureen Harris ◽  
Michael Newstein
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
South America ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Cavia Porcellus ◽  
Andean Region ◽  
Human Salmonellosis ◽  
Pig Meat

Salmonellaoutbreaks have been linked to a wide variety of foods, including recent nationwide outbreaks. Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), also known as cuy or cobayo, has long been a popular delicacy and ceremonial food in the Andean region in South America. This case report describes three family outbreaks of nontyphoidal salmonellosis, each occurring after a meal of guinea pigs. We believe this case report is the first to describe a probable association between the consumption of guinea pig meat and human salmonellosis. Physicians should be aware of the association ofSalmonellaand the consumption of guinea pigs, given the increasing immigration of people from the Andean region of South America and the increasing travel to this region.

scholarly journals Trichuris spp. in Animals, with Specific Reference to Neo-Tropical Rodents

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Kegan Romelle Jones
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris ◽  
Present Information ◽  
Low Prevalence ◽  
A New Species

Trichuriasis is the clinical disease of animals infected with the parasite of the genus Trichuris. This review attempts to present information on Trichuris spp. infestation in neo-tropical rodents that are utilized for meat consumption by humans. Neo-tropical rodents utilized for meat production can be divided into two categories: those that have been domesticated, which include the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), and those that are on the verge of domestication, such as the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), lappe (Cuniculus paca/Agouti paca), and agouti (Dasyprocta leporina). This document reviews the literature on the species of Trichuris that affects the rodents mentioned above, as well as the clinical signs observed. The literature obtained spans over sixty years, from 1951 to 2020. Trichuris spp. was found in these neo-tropical rodents mentioned. However, there is a dearth of information on the species of Trichuris that parasitize these animals. The capybara was the only rodent where some molecular techniques were used to identify a new species named T. cutillasae. In most cases, Trichuris spp. was found in combination with other endoparasites, and was found at a low prevalence in the lappe and guinea pig. The presence of Trichuris spp. ranged from 4.62–53.85% in the agouti, 4.21–10.00% in the lappe, 50% in the capybaras, and 1–31% in guinea pigs. Further work must be done towards molecular identification of various Trichuris spp. present in these rodents, as well as the clinical effect of infection on the performance of agouti, lappe, capybara, and guinea pigs.

Spontaneous intrauterine growth restriction due to increased litter size in the guinea pig programmes postnatal growth, appetite and adult body composition

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 548-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Horton ◽  
D. A. Saint ◽  
J. A. Owens ◽  
K. L. Kind ◽  
K. L. Gatford
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Intrauterine Growth Restriction ◽  
Intrauterine Growth ◽  
Adult Body ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Neonatal Growth ◽  
Size At Birth

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and subsequent neonatal catch-up growth are implicated in the programming of increased appetite, adiposity and cardiometabolic diseases. Guinea pigs provide an alternate small animal model to rodents to investigate mechanisms underlying prenatal programming, being relatively precocial at birth, with smaller litter sizes and undergoing neonatal catch-up growth after IUGR. The current study, therefore, investigated postnatal consequences of spontaneous IUGR due to varying litter size in this species. Size at birth, neonatal, juvenile (post-weaning, 30–60 days) and adolescent (60–90 days) growth, juvenile and adolescent food intake, and body composition of young adults (120 days) were measured in 158 male and female guinea pigs from litter sizes of one to five pups. Compared with singleton pups, birth weight of pups from litters of five was reduced by 38%. Other birth size measures were reduced to lesser degrees with head dimensions being relatively conserved. Pups from larger litters had faster fractional neonatal growth and faster absolute and fractional juvenile growth rates (P<0.005 for all). Relationships of post-weaning growth, feed intakes and adult body composition with size at birth and neonatal growth rate were sex specific, with neonatal growth rates strongly and positively correlated with adiposity in males only. In conclusion, spontaneous IUGR due to large litter sizes in the guinea pig causes many of the programmed sequelae of IUGR reported in other species, including human. This may therefore be a useful model to investigate the mechanisms underpinning perinatal programming of hyperphagia, obesity and longer-term metabolic consequences.

scholarly journals Case Report of a Satin Guinea Pig with Fibrous Osteodystrophy That Resembles Human Pseudohypoparathyroidism

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Miguel Gallego
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Clinical Findings ◽  
Term Treatment ◽  
Ionized Calcium ◽  
Heterozygous Mutation ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Balanced Diet ◽  
Long Term Treatment

A case report of a 2-year-old female satin guinea pig with a history of dental overgrowth and lameness and radiological lesions of fibrous osteodystrophy is presented. The most relevant clinical findings were bone demineralization, high level of parathyroid hormone (PTH), normophosphatemia, normal ionized calcium, and low total thyroxine (tT4) with a normal renal function. Long-term treatment was based on teeth coronal reduction and maintaining a balanced diet. PTH measurement was performed with a kit suitable for rats to test 4 different paired samples of guinea pigs and resulted in similar results for each pair of measurements. Two kits routinely employed in dogs and cats failed in measuring PTH in guinea pig serum samples. The ionized calcium, PTH, and tT4 values, not previously reported in similar cases, were obtained. The determination of tT4 could be useful in the diagnosis of fibrous osteodystrophy in guinea pigs. The observed findings show similarity with human pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ia, a disease caused by an inactivating heterozygous mutation of the stimulatory G proteinαsubunit from the maternal genome that induces multiple hormone resistance and that courses with a syndrome called Albright hereditary osteodystrophy. Naturally occurring pseudohypoparathyroidism in animals has been reported previously only in a ferret.

115 FIRST SUCCESSFUL PREGNANCY AFTER EMBRYO TRANSFER INTO SYNCHRONIZED FEMALES IN GUINEA PIG (CAVIA PORCELLUS)

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
A. Grégoire ◽  
F. Peredo ◽  
S. León ◽  
E. Huamán ◽  
A. Allard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Embryo Transfer ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Uterine Horn ◽  
Cavia Porcellus ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Transfer Method

The guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) has been used as a laboratory animal since the late 18th century and still remains essential in many research areas. It also plays an important role in the Andes societies as a source of protein for many low-income highlanders and as part of rituals and traditional medicines. Thus, the conservation of genetic diversity is a long-term issue that must be considered. To establish an embryo cryobank, it is necessary to develop a method of embryo transfer. Up to now no pregnancies after surgical embryo transfer into synchronized females have been reported in guinea pigs. The aim of this work was to design a standard embryo transfer method in this species. Eight normally cycling female guinea pigs from the Maria-Marcela Farm (Puente Piedra, Peru), weighing from 1 to 1.5 kg, were used in this study. Females were housed under farming conditions and fed on commercial pellets and tap water ad libitum. Three donor females were superovulated using 15 IU of human menopausal gonadotrophin (hMG, Massone®, Buenos Aires, Argentina) and mated as soon as the vagina opened. Copulatory plug was observed and vaginal smears were taken to guarantee successful mating. Thirty-eight embryos were collected between Days 3.5 and 4.5 after ovulation at the morula and early blastocyst stages. Five recipient females were synchronized by a daily 0.1-mL dose of altrenogest (Regumate® Equine, Intervet, France) per os by means of a syringe for 15 days. Two embryos were transferred into each uterine horn by laparotomy at Day 3.5 and 4.5 after ovulation. Two types of pipettes were tested for embryo transfer: pulled glass pipettes approximately 0.3 mm in diameter in 2 female recipients and plastic open pulled straws (OPS, Minitüb®, Germany) in 3 recipients. Pregnancy diagnosis was detected by observation of no return to oestrus at Day 16 and confirmed by ultrasonography. None of the 3 OPS-transferred females were pregnant. One of the 2 pulled glass pipette–transferred females was diagnosed as pregnant and delivered 2 stillbirths (one per uterine horn). There were no postsurgical complications and the females undergoing embryo transfer returned to normal reproduction. We demonstrated that a classic surgical embryo transfer method is possible under field conditions to obtain pregnancy in this species. We suggest further studies using glass pipettes, which allow a more precise embryo deposition. Future experiments will incorporate the transfer of frozen-thawed embryos on a larger scale.

THE INFLUENCE OF LITTER SIZE AND LITTER ORDER ON LENGTH OF GESTATION AND EARLY POSTNATAL GROWTH IN THE GUINEA-PIG

1956 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS McKEOWN ◽  
BRIAN MACMAHON
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Postnatal Growth ◽  
First Birth ◽  
Length Of Gestation

SUMMARY The influence of litter size and litter order on length of gestation and early postnatal growth of offspring has been examined on records of sixty-six female guinea-pigs which delivered 440 litters. It is shown that: (a) The association between foetal weight and length of gestation is not the same for different litter sizes: in small litters weight increases with length of gestation; in large litters weight decreases. It is suggested that weight influences time of parturition in large litters, but not in small ones. (b) Length of gestation increases with litter order. This result is shown to be independent of litter size and weight. (c) As litter size increases, weight of young at 28 days after birth decreases, but rate of postnatal growth (weight at 28 days expressed as a percentage of birth weight) increases. (d) Rate of postnatal growth (to 28 days) is lowest for first-born young, increases after the first birth, and falls again after the fourth.

scholarly journals Genomic Characterization of Campylobacter jejuni Adapted to the Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus) Host

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig T. Parker ◽  
Kerry K. Cooper ◽  
Francesca Schiaffino ◽  
William G. Miller ◽  
Steven Huynh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Campylobacter Jejuni ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Host Specialization ◽  
Whole Genome Sequence ◽  
Gene Gain ◽  
Cavia Porcellus ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Genes Encoding

Campylobacter jejuni is the leading bacterial cause of gastroenteritis worldwide with excessive incidence in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC). During a survey for C. jejuni from putative animal hosts in a town in the Peruvian Amazon, we were able to isolate and whole genome sequence two C. jejuni strains from domesticated guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). The C. jejuni isolated from guinea pigs had a novel multilocus sequence type that shared some alleles with other C. jejuni collected from guinea pigs. Average nucleotide identity and phylogenetic analysis with a collection of C. jejuni subsp. jejuni and C. jejuni subsp. doylei suggest that the guinea pig isolates are distinct. Genomic comparisons demonstrated gene gain and loss that could be associated with guinea pig host specialization related to guinea pig diet, anatomy, and physiology including the deletion of genes involved with selenium metabolism, including genes encoding the selenocysteine insertion machinery and selenocysteine-containing proteins.

THE INFLUENCE OF MATERNAL AGE, PARITY AND WEIGHT ON LITTER SIZE IN THE GUINEA-PIG

1955 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. ECKSTEIN ◽  
THOMAS McKEOWN
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Negative Correlation ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Maternal Weight ◽  
Positive Correlation

SUMMARY In twenty-nine guinea-pigs examined on the 65th day of their first pregnancy, litter size was positively correlated with maternal weight at conception. This association was independent of maternal age; there was no significant correlation between size and age after correction for weight. Similar results were obtained in 113 animals reported by Ibsen 1928]: a substantial positive correlation between litter size and weight (0·43) was independent of both age and parity, but there was only a trivial correlation with age (0·07), and a negative correlation with parity (−0·16) after correction for weight. Correlations between number of corpora lutea and weight (0·32, after correction for age) and between number of corpora and age (−0·17, after correction for weight) in twenty-eight of the twenty-nine animals, suggest that the association between litter size and weight is determined mainly by a positive correlation between weight and the number of ova produced.

Reducing food insecurity in developing countries through meat production: the potential of the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus)

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Lammers ◽  
Sarah L. Carlson ◽  
Gretchen A. Zdorkowski ◽  
Mark S. Honeyman
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Cavia Porcellus ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Livestock Species ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractGlobal poverty and food insecurity continue to remain critical issues, especially in rural areas. Developing and fostering agricultural systems that not only require low to moderate amounts of economic capital and few external inputs but also maintain and enhance the resource base of production are key features of sustainable agricultural development. Sustainable agricultural development, including diversifying smallholder production to include livestock, is a pragmatic approach to address both rural poverty and food insecurity. Livestock play important roles in the lives of humans as converters, recyclers and banks of nutrients. Smallholders raise a diversity of livestock species and often raise multiple species simultaneously. High fecundity, diet flexibility and adaptability to a wide range of housing and management approaches are critical traits of livestock species well suited for producing meat for home consumption and marketing in the context of rural smallholders. Swine (Sus scrofa) and chicken (Gallus domesticus) meet many of these criteria and are well known livestock species. This paper examines the potential for a less common species of livestock, guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) to enhance food security and increase household income of rural smallholders. Although cultural acceptance of guinea pig as a source of nutrition and income is less ubiquitous than that of swine, chicken and other species, the biological, ecological and economic advantages of guinea pig deserve further examination by those working to alleviate global poverty and food insecurity.

scholarly journals A Study on Morphological Growth and Development of Swiss Albino Mice, Wistar Rat and Dunkin Hartley Guinea Pigs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Abhijeet ◽  
Y.B. Rajeshwari ◽  
Vivek M. Patil ◽  
R.Y. Ranjith ◽  
S.M. Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Morphological Development ◽  
Swiss Albino Mice ◽  
Litter Weight ◽  
Albino Mice ◽  
Size At Birth

Background: Baseline information on the morphological development of laboratory animals is very scanty. Hence the present study was undertaken to understand the morphological development of experimental animals. Methods: An experiment was conducted at Biogen animal facility, Bangalore in the year 2018 to study the morphological changes with regard to growth and developmental parameters in Swiss albino mice and Wistar rats and body weight in guinea pigs. Ten Swiss albino mice and Wistar rats in advanced pregnancy of similar age groups and comparable litter sizes in the previous kindlings were selected for the experiment, where as five guinea pigs males and females each were selected with same age group. During the study period, litter weight and size at birth and at weaning, time of initiation and completion (full growth of hair) of hair growth, time of opening of eyes and ears recorded in Swiss albino mice and Wistar rats whereas body weight at birth, 3rd day, 6th day, 9th day, 12th day and 15th were recorded in Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs. Result: The results of Swiss albino mice indicated that the average litter weight (grams) and litter size at birth ranged from 1.39 and 7.50 respectively. The average time taken from initiation and full growth of hair covering on body was 7.50 to 15.30 days. Eyes and ears opened at 7.90 and 8.20 days respectively. Average weight of male and female recorded at weaning (25 days) 19.38 and 15.12 respectively and the litter size at the weaning was 9.70 whereas, livability percent was recorded 87.81 at the end of the trial. The results of Wistar rats indicated that the average litter weight (grams) and litter size at birth ranged from 5.07 and 11 respectively. The average time taken from initiation to full growth of hair covering on body was 9 to 16.20 days. Eyes and ears opened at 12.20 days, average weight (grams) of male and female recorded at weaning (25 days) 78.03 and 63.09 respectively. The litter size at the weaning was 9.70. The livability percent was recorded 88.02 at the end of the trial. The results of Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs indicated that the average body weight (grams) of female at birth, 3rd day, 6th day, 9th day, 12th day, 15th (Weaning period) ranged from 94.88, 109.34, 123.94, 139.74, 152.14 and 166.66, respectively. On the other hand, average body weight (grams) of male at birth, 3rd day, 6th day, 9th day, 12th day, 15th (Weaning period) ranged from 145.38, 155.42, 170.50, 185.54, 200.64 and 215.7, respectively.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document